To ensure early detection of tsunamis and to acquire data critical to real-time forecasts, NOAA has placed tsunami detection stations that employ the Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART®) technology at sites in regions with a history of generating destructive tsunamis. NOAA completed the original 6-buoy operational array in 2001 and expanded to a full network of 39 ... stations in March, 2008.

Originally developed by NOAA, as part of the U.S. National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP), the DART® Project was an effort to maintain and improve the capability for the early detection and real-time reporting of tsunamis in the open ocean. See http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/dart/dart.shtml>DART® development for more info.

DART® presently constitutes a critical element of the NOAA Tsunami Program. The Tsunami Program is part of a cooperative effort to save lives and protect property through hazard assessment, warning guidance, mitigation, research capabilities, and international coordination. NOAA’s National Weather Service (http://www.weather.gov>NWS) is responsible for the overall execution of the Tsunami Program. This includes operation of the U.S. Tsunami Warning Centers (TWC) as well as leadership of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program. It also includes the acquisition, operations and maintenance of observation systems required in support of tsunami warning such as DART®, local seismic networks, coastal, and coastal flooding detectors. NWS also supports observations and data management through the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC).